a beer blog about portland, oregon and all the wonderful craft beer in our fair city. we're craft beer ambassadors & beer geek enthusiasts; we meet up over tasty beers. some of us homebrew, a few of us are pro brewers, some of us are hobbyists, and some are firmly entrenched in the portland craft beer scene!

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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Interview Series : Meet the Geek : Chad Freitag aka Humble Brewing

Chad Freitag

Name: Chad Freitag

Hometown: I was born and raised in Corning, CA, also known as the “Olive City”. There is some incredible olive oil being produced in the region these days which I can’t get enough of. I encourage you to make a stop for some tastings if you ever travel down I-5 into California. After graduating high school I moved to nearby Chico, CA where I lived for several years and began my informal education of “learning” about beer.

Favorite Beer: I really can’t narrow it down to just one. So many things factor in to what a favorite beer might be for the occasion. The weather, who I’m with, where I’m at, what I’m in the mood for, the time of day, the list goes on and on. I do tend to migrate towards Saison and cloudy IPAs, though I do admit to keeping my taste buds “calibrated” with an occasional can of cheap American lager.

Favorite Beer Haunt: I don’t get out too much but Amnesia Brewing is most definitely a favorite of mine. For me, it’s a place where all is right in the universe. I believe they use the word “Copacetic” to describe this feeling.

What was the first craft brew you ever tried? What did you think? It was likely Sierra Nevada Pale Ale while living in Chico. Tasting Bigfoot for my first time in 1994 was the one that really sticks out in my mind. It was like a whole meal in a bottle; so full of flavor and filling. I tried to drink it like a Keystone Ice or something which turned out to be a terrible idea. I haven’t tried that approach since.

Do you homebrew? If yes, favorite homebrew to date: I guess technically the answer would be NO. All the beer produced by Humble Brewing is sold, though much of the equipment and process have been carried over from homebrewing days.

How’d you hear about the pdxbeergeeks? I first saw mention of #pdxbeergeeks in my Twitter feed. I met Michael in person at our Gonzilla IIPA release party at Plew’s Brews. Since then, Michael has graciously given me ample time to answer his questions.

What does being a beer geek mean to you? Man, this is a tough question because I haven’t really self-identified with the ‘beer geek’ title. I can tell you that I am incredibly passionate about learning and discussing any beer/brewing related topic and tend to align myself with likeminded people when I go out. I seek out and enjoy as many kinds of beer possible in this great city although I’ve never waited in line for a bottle release. Being an engineer-by-day brings out the brewing hardware geek in me for sure. I’m just as likely to geek-out about a piece of shiny stainless steel brewing hardware as I am a multi-year barrel aged, wild yeast fermented, resurrected beer style from thousands of years ago. I guess all that adds up to making me a beer geek, huh?

If you could change one thing about beer culture in the US, what would it be? This doesn’t really answer your question but I’d love to see the craft breweries age gracefully and go on for generations. Sierra Nevada comes to mind with their East Coast expansion and that it’s being grown as a ‘family’ run business. Most craft breweries in the US just haven’t existed long enough to have that opportunity yet.

What do you love about Portland’s Craft Beer scene? The people, without a doubt! The beer isn’t bad either.